Royal ONE Plus™ Visa Signature®

In your first year, this card easily pays for itself thanks to a robust welcome bonus worth roughly $600 after meeting the initial spending requirement. Waiving foreign transaction fees also provides practical value if you make purchases abroad.

However, holding the card long term is harder to defend. A flat 1% earning rate paired with a $99 annual fee yields significantly lower returns than standard no-annual-fee cards that earn 1.5% to 2% cash back on every purchase. Unless you specifically value Bank of America point redemptions, most cardholders will find better ongoing value elsewhere.